Pneumonia, giant cell
A deadly but fortunately rare complication of measles that tends to strike children who are immunodeficient from leukemia or AIDS. The lung tissue shows multinucleated giant cells lining the alveoli (air sacs) of the lungs. Also known as Hecht’s pneumonia.
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- Pneumonia, Hecht's
Also known as giant cell pneumonia, this is a deadly but fortunately rare complication of measles. It tends to strike children who are immunodeficient as from leukemia or HIV/AIDS. The postmortem examination (autopsy) shows multinucleated giant cells lining the alveoli (air sacs) of the lungs. Named for the early 20th-century Austrian pathologist Victor Hecht.
- Pneumonic plague
Infection of the lungs by Yersina pestis, the bacterial agent that causes the plague, a disease of animals (rodents and their fleas) and humans. The first signs of the pneumonic plague are fever, headache, weakness, and cough productive of bloody or watery sputum. The pneumonia progresses over 2 to 4 days and may cause septic […]
- Pneumonitis, radiation
Inflammation of the lungs as a result of radiation. Although the radiation can be from various sources including accidents, today it is usually from radiation therapy. Radiation pneumonitis typically occurs after radiation treatments for cancers within the chest or breast. Acute (early) radiation pneumonitis usually manifests itself 4 to 12 weeks after completion of radiation […]
- Pneumopericardium
Air or other gas in the sac surrounding the heart (pericardium).
- Pneumothorax
Free air in the chest outside the lung. Pneumothorax can occur spontaneously, follow a fractured rib or other trauma, occur in the wake of chest surgery, or be deliberately induced in order to collapse the lung.